Marvel Studios scored a major coup earlier this year when it announced a deal with Sony Pictures to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The studio now controls almost all of its major comic book characters, with the exception of 20th Century Fox's X-Men and Fantastic Four properties, and Namo the Sub-Mariner at Universal. As it turns out, it seems that the studio re-acquired another comic book character, under the radar, according to reports from ComicBook.com and Heroic Hollywood.
The character in question is Taskmaster, who director Joe Carnahan was developing a movie around several years ago, that never came to fruition. The filmmaker was also developing a Daredevil reboot for 20th Century Fox, but they couldn't get production started before the rights expired, which lead to the rights reverting back to Marvel Studios. Deadpool director Tim Miller was recently asked who he would like to see the Merc With the Mouth do battle with, when he mentioned Taskmaster, although his answer implied that 20th Century Fox no longer controls the rights.
"I'd love to see Deadpool fight Batman - no, I'm just kidding, that's not even in the Marvel family! I'd love to see Deadpool go up against Taskmaster who's another Marvel total fuckin' badass. But if I was to stay inside the Fox family, I would like to see him fight X-23, the female Wolverine. The female clone of Wolverine."
Following this revelation, ComicBook.com's source revealed that Marvel Studios acquired the rights to Taskmaster at the same time that they got the Daredevil rights back in 2013. The rights to other Marvel characters such as Ghost Rider, The Punisher and Blade also reverted back to the studio just a few weeks later. The studio hasn't announced any projects with Ghost Rider and Blade just yet, but Punisher will be introduced into the MCU in Marvel's Daredevil Season 2 next year.
In the Marvel Comics, Taskmaster, a.k.a. Tony Masters, has the ability to mimic the physical movements of anyone he watches. The main downfall to his abilities is that he loses some of his own personal memories, after he mimics another person. Taskmaster has frequently been portrayed as a criminal in the comics, but he has also worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. It's possible that this character could be introduced in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at some point, or any of the studio's other movie and TV properties, but the studio hasn't announced any plans for the character yet. Would you like to see Taskmaster introduced in the MCU at some point?
